Dropper



Patented Sept. 21, y 1943 y 33ans DROPPER Lodis w. schaart, Jacks() toWaldes Koh-I-No n Heights, N.,Y., assignor or, Inc., Long Island City,

N. Y.. a corporation of New York y l ,Application'rebruary 1s, 1942,serial No. 431,169 7 Claims. (Cl. 221148) 'I'his invention relates toimprovements in droppers of the type commonly referred to as medicinedroppers,` although it will be understood that droppers in ,accordancewith the present invention are capable of generalusage in measuring anddispensing liquids other than medicines. j

Droppers as usually constructed employ an open-ended glass tube formedwith a restriction at one end and carrying a rubber bulb at the otherwhich is manipulated to both ll the dropper and to expel the liquidtherefrom in the form of drops. While this form of dropper has enjoyed'wide usage, it is nevertheless open Ato objection, notably thedifficulty in cleaning, Athe requirement that a nice kdegree of pressurebe exerted on the-bulb in dispensing drops therefrom, and thedeleterious effect that'bothtime and chemicals have on the frubber bulb`used therewith. Moreover, shcrtagesin'essential raw materials such asrubber` give `indication that rubber. bulbs for droppers will not bereadily available, and make apparent the necessity of developing asubstitute for the rubber bulb or of providing a functionally effectivedropper which does away entirely with the `rubber bulb.

The present invention contemplates and' has for its principal objectsthe provision of a novel and improved dropper which" is effectiveinoperation, which is soconstructed `that the requirement of a rubber bulbfor` operating: the

same is dispensed with entirely, and which instead may be manufacturedcomplete from readily available materials; theprovision of a dropi perwhich accurately forms and measures each drop regardless of the force orpressure applied in manipulation; the provision of a dropper which maybe readily taken apart and cleaned; and the provision ofV a dropperwhich is of rugged and substantially non-breakable construction,

which can be inexpensively fabricated and as` sembled in quantity, andwhich is unaffected by age and the' chemicals with which it is used.

Other objects will be in` part1 obvious and'in part hereinafter pointedout in connection with the following analysis of this invention whereinis illustrated an embodiment of the `invention in detail.

In the drawings lig.y 1 vis a :front elevation of dropper of thepresent'invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation .of the dropper illustrated in Fig. l; 1

l'ig; 3 is a section along line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 isa section along lined- 4 of Fig. 1.

the improved Y In .the drawing, wherein like characters `designate likeparts throughout the several views, the improved dropper is shown asconstituted by two elongated half-sections `lll and i2 which arehingedly related by ahinge pin I4, of which the section Ylll will bereferred toas the front section and the section l2 as the rear section.Each section is provided with a dat, outwardly convexed handle or gripportion, the grip` portion |2a of the under section terminating in afor-r wardly extending tongue lZb of depth corre-v sponding tothethickness of the end of the upper grip portiony lila ot the frontsection. The upper terminal edge lob of the frontsection is normallyspaced slightly from the under lacel ofthe tongue, but when iingerpressure is exerted .on the ygrip-portions the handle portion lilaelongates slightly whereupon its top` edge engages against the tonguewhich thereupon acts as a stop and limits the degreev of finger pressurewhich can be exerted. v

' Somewhat below its grip portion the rear section is provided withforwardly extending hinge ears I2C spaced to receive a mating ear Illeformed on thefront section and extendingrearwardly thereof. The hingepin I4 projects through said ears and thus hingedly connects the,sections.

Below the `hinge ear each section is formed with anelongatedsemi-cylindrical portion, the' elongated portion 52d of the rear`section opposing the like portion Mld of the front section. Thus theelongated portions lild, |2d complement eachother to provide anelongated tubular reservoir of, small diameter for the liquid to bedispensed which will hereinafter be termed the reservoir portion.' f iThe lower endl of each semi-cylindrical portionv connects with asemi-spherical portion of radius substantially greater than the radiusof the semicylindrical portions.'1 Like thelatter portions, thesemi-,spherical Yportions designatedV ille and l2e areoppositely'disposed as shown and thus cornextending discharge spoutltend at an angle of approximately 45 to the VVerbe stamped ordie-formed from one of the available metals, preferably a metal of aspringyv or. exible nature, the metal finish of which may be retained;or the metal sections may, either prior to or after assembly, thereuponbaked or heat-treated. In either case the selected material should besuch that the sections are flexible to the extent that when assembledand linger` pressure is applied to one or both of the handle gripportions thereof, the spout and valve end of the sections have relativeseparating movement as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and thatrelease of such finger pressure causes the sections to close inautomatic manner. To add to the flexibility of the grip por tions of thedevice the same are preferably provided With punched openings, of whichthe opening lilh. of the front section may diameter than the opening|2h. of the rear section. This difference in dimensioning of theopenings is also useful in enabling the user to distinguish between thefront and rear of the dropper.

In use, the dropper is immersed in the liquid and, being open at itsupper end, the liquid rises to the level of the liquid in the containerfrom which it is taken. When withdrawn from the container the liquid isheld by capillary attraction in the reservoir and dropper regulatingportions of the device. To measure and dispense a drop, slight ngerpressure is exerted on the handle portion thereof, causing the spout andvalve ends of the sections to open sufficiently that the pressure of thecolumn of the liquid in the reservoir portion causes enough liquid aswill form a drop to escape under the valve and to flow down to theextreme end of the spout portion.` Release of finger pressure on thegrip portion causes the valve to again seat in the spout portion, thusto cut off the drop from the liquid column, whereupon the sci-formeddrop falls from the end of the spout portion'under its own weight.Repeat operations as aforesaid may be carried on, each resulting in theformation and dispensing of a drop, until the liquid column isexhausted.

In the aforesaid operation, the spherical drop regulating port-ionconstituted by the spherical half sections Ie, |2e serves not only inholding by capillary action a portion of the liquid column, but, byrea-son of its relatively great volume which is substantially largerthan that of a drop of liquid, permits the drop to form and releaseitself from the liquid column when the equilibrium between the capillaryholding action and the pressure of the liquid column is disturbed as byopening the valve lg. Upon release of a drop from the liquideontained inthe spherical portion, a very small quantity of the liquid remainstherein, but upon closing the valve the liquid column lowersinto thespherical portion the amount of the released drop.

which `is moldable i be enamelled and be of smaller reason of the isprovided.

By suitable calibration, the reservoir portion of the dropper can bepreformed to hold a predetermined volume of liquid corresponding to acertain number of drops thereof. By molding the sections from one of thesuggested plastic materials, extreme accuracy of liquid volume isobtained. To indicate the capacity of the reservoir in terms of dropscontained therein, suitable markings indicated in Fig. 1 may beappliedto the outer surface of one or both sections, preferably the frontsection IIJ. By fabricating the section from transparent plastic, thequantity of liquid held in the liquid column can be determined visuallyby reference to such markings.

Manipulation of the dropper as aforesaid results in the formation ofdrops which are equal in size and volume, account being taken of theviscosity of the liquid being dispensed and its specific gravity. Itwill also be self-evident that a dropper in accordance with the presentinvention provides greater uniformity of drop and greater accuracy as tothe amount of liquid dispensed than droppers operated by a rubber bulbfilled with air because in the latter case the size of the drop and thenumber of drops is a function of the pressure exerted on the bulb. Witha dropper of the present invention, the drop forms irrespective of thedegree of pressure exerted by the user, there being no provision forincreasing this pressure or for accelerating the formation of the dropsas by increased pressure.

From the foregoing analysis of the invention, it will be seenthat afunctionally effective dropper eliminating the requirement of a rubberbulb Such a dropper may readily be taken apart and cleaned, isunbreakable, and, in view of its simplicity of construction, lendsitself admirably to economic, accurate production.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructionswithout departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended thatall matter contained in the above description or shown in theaccompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimit- 1 ing sense.

I claim:

1. A' liquid dropper of the class described comprising two elongatedhalf-sections cooperatively related to form a small diameter, generallytubular reservoir adapted to hold by capillary attraction a column ofthe liquid to be dispensed, a handle portion at one'end of thereservoir, normally closed discharge means at the other end of thereservoir, and means whereby pressure ex.- erted on the handle portioneffects operation of said discharge means'to release and discharge a.single drop of the liquid contained in the reservoir.

2. A liquid dropper of the class described comprising two elongatedhalf-sections cooperatively related to form a small diameter, generallytubular reservoir adapted to hold by capillary attraction a column ofthe liquid to be dispensed, a handle portion at one end of thereservoir, normally closed discharge means at the other end of thereservoir, said discharge means including a discharge spout on onesection and a valve on the other section normally cutting offcommunication between said reservoir and the spout, and

fmeans whereby pressure exerted on the handle portion effects movementof the valve to open communication between the reservoir and the spout.

3. A liquid dropper of the class described comprising two elongatedhalt-sections and means hingedly securing the sections,4 said sectionsbeing shaped to provide a liquid reservoir including an elongated, smalldiameter tubular portion andr to the lower end thereof, a hollowspherical dropforming portion, a handle portion extending above thetubular portion, and a normally closed discharge means extending belowthe spherical ly from its vsemi-spherical portion and normally closingoi communication between the semispherical portionv and the spout oftheother section,v and means pivoting said sections together adapted tohold by `capillary attraction a column of liquid to be dispensed, ahandle portion at one end of the reservoir, normally closed dischargeportion, the said discharge means including a i discharge spout on onesection and a valve on the other section, normally cutting offcommunication between the spherical portion and the spout, and meanswhereby pressure exerted on the handle portion eiTects movement of thevalve to open communication between the spherical portion and the spout.

5. A liquid dropper of the class described comprising two elongatedhalf-sections, each including a handle portion, an elongatedsemi-cylindrical portion, a semi-spherical portion into which the lowerend of the semi-cylindrical portion opens, one section having adownwardly eX- tending discharge spout into which its semisphericalportion opens, the other section having a tongue-like valve portionextending downwardwhereby said semi-cylindrical and semi-spherical,

portions complement each other to form a liquid reservoir and wherebypressure appliedto the handle portions operates to eiect communicationbetween the spherical portion and the spout. 6. A liquid dropper of theclass described comprising two elongated half-sections which togetherform a small diameter tubular reservoir means at the other end of thereservoir, means whereby pressure exerted on the-handle portion' eiiectsoperationV of said discharge means to release and discharge a singledrop of lthe liquid contained in the reservoir, one of said sectionscarrying indicia representative of the dropcapacity of the reservoir. i

7. A liquid dropper of the class described comprising two elongated halfsections which to.- gether forma tube of small diameter adapted to holdby capillary' attraction a column of the liquid to be dispensed, saidsections being provided at theirfone ends withl connecting and operatingmeans and at their opposite ends with portions complementing each otherto form a normally closed discharge nozzle communicating with said tube.

' LOUIS W. SCHAAFF.

